


Lament Of A Stranger

by SleepyNightingale



Series: Strangers [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF, Who Killed Markiplier? (Web Series), markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Abuse, Actor needs therapy lmao, Alternate Ending, Amy is the DA, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Damien is just trying his best :(, Dark humor here and there, I can't remember what else to tag, I hope I didn't forget anything, Infidelity, Multi, Murder, Some of these characters are simply mentioned a lot, Sorta crappy parents, Still trying to figure this site out honestly, Suicide Attempt, Violence, Well more so bad dads, angst angst angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-13
Updated: 2020-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:09:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 18,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21780823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SleepyNightingale/pseuds/SleepyNightingale
Summary: The events that led up to that infamous Poker Night, hosted by Actor Mark Fischbach. | BIG TRIGGER WARNING; Side Note, Nightingale is bad at summaries lmao
Series: Strangers [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1640008
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	1. It's Not Fair

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of my friends fell in love with this story and encouraged that I posted on here, so here it is! Also I'm not used to posting on here so this is all weird and new to me. Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy!! 
> 
> Side note: This was inspired by a fun little roleplay I had with a friend uwu.
> 
> Side side note: Suicide Warning.

It was an indescribable feeling. The amount of sheer pain that coursed through his body stemming from his heart. It felt overwhelming. It felt like he was injected with some kind of poison. Hard to breathe and tears built up in his eyes. For once, he understood what it felt like. He's always played characters who wanted to yell or scream during any emotional or mental pain, and he never quite understood why. Until he found this note. Now he understood, but he swallowed the screams down as the note crumpled a little in his grasp. A few tears dropped onto it.

Anger, Misery, and Betrayal. They all mixed together in a boiling pot deep in his soul. He wanted to scream. He had to scream. It was a sudden movement when the note was released and he grabbed a pillow off the bed. Without hesitation, he screamed into it. Raw, guttural and painful. Probably damaging his voice. He didn't care. That's when the sobs broke free. Here sat a pathetic man, sobbing and screaming into a pillow.

How could Celine do _this_? How could she take back everything she's ever said to him? Were her wedding vows nothing but lies? Mark's anger started to boil over. He tried to vent it out through his screams. It didn't help much but it was better than nothing. He's been nothing but good to her and she decides to skip out on everything?! The anger was unbearable.

The Actor remained like this for an awful amount of time. When he pulled his head away from the pillow, he had to take heaving deep breaths. His face was probably red and tear stained, his eyes were more than definitely red. Disgusting sniffles for air. His head was pounding by now but the endlessly twisting of emotions inside kept his thoughts busy.

A knocking was what snapped his gaze to the side. He felt like his gaze was burning into anything in the general direction. The pillow was now pressed against his chest with his arms around it tightly. The door creaked open, a few plush steps in before Mark caught sight of Damien, and he couldn't help but to grow angry at him despite the fact he had no real role in all of this. Just Celine's younger twin. Though the connection to her was enough to piss him off immensely. If looks could kill, Mark would've slaughtered Damien already.

The Mayor entered with an almost cautious 'Is everything okay?' but he cut himself off shortly when he saw the sight of Mark, and he felt a part of him crack just a little at seeing the pain in his friend's eyes. He clenched the head of his cane tightly as he glanced toward the note that sat just barely out to the side of Mark. Oh. He knew he was right to have a bad feeling this morning.. He tried to ignore the obvious glare as he approached the bedside. He was gonna reach for the note but he stopped himself, instead he placed a hand on the Actor's shoulder when the glare was broken.

Mark was glaring down at the bed now, more tears spilling over despite everything. He didn't realize how tensed he was until Damien touched him. He squeezed his eyes shut and Damien pulled him into a tight hug. Within seconds the Actor was sobbing again and the Mayor just held him through it. Words weren't necessary.

•••••••••

The Mayor sat with Mark for awhile. He ended up climbing onto the bed and holding the actor as he sobbed. Still no words spared. None was needed. Mark had his face buried into Damien's collarbone and soon his sobs died down. Damien never really realized how much Celine meant to Mark until.. well, until now. He had read the note over and over again and couldn't believe how.. cold his sister could be. He couldn't stop thinking about it and soon he came across the theory that this is why she invited him to stay the night here. Maybe she wasn't as heartless as he thought before but still, she devastated Mark.

Soon enough it was just.. quiet in the room. You could hear the birds singing their morning songs outside. At one point, Benjamin tried coming in but Damien just shook his head solemnly and the butler seemed to understand immediately and back off. All that was really heard in the room was Mark's struggles to breath properly. Damien let his thoughts drift him away.

Soon enough, Mark was detaching from Damien and it seemed like something honestly flipped in him. Damien fell out of his thoughts as he looked toward the male with a frown. Mark was still trembling. He took in a shaky deep breath. He was grounding himself again.

"Da-Dames.. I.." His voice was honestly rough. It made both of them cringe just a little but he still continued on, "I j-just.. want to apologize for how I've treated you.. the last few years.."

Well, that certainly caught Damien off guard. Out of everything that could've been said. It was that. He spoke up a little nervously.

"Mark.. its—" The Actor didn't let him continue. He just shook his head and shushed him softly before speaking up once more.

"No. Its _not_." He practically hissed that and shook his head. Irritation building but he tried to let it go. Another deep breath. "Just let me apologize please."

Damien just gave him a slow nod. Did this really affect Mark that badly? He frowned more as the Actor lifted his hands up to rub his face, primarily his eyes before pulling them away. Their eyes met.

"I've been nothing but cruel to you.. a-and I dunno what's push me in that direction.. So please, Damien. Stop me if it starts happening again.. You've done nothing but good to me. I can't afford to lose you too.." Those words was all it took for Damien to actually grow a bit emotional himself but he tried to fight it off.

"I promise."

"Thank you.."

•••••••••

Things were.. quiet after Damien had left. Mark had to make him leave quite honestly. The poor Mayor was unsure if he should leave Mark alone after what happened. The Actor insisted however. Damien was already behind on his mayoral duties, he couldn't stall that any longer. Though now the house was quiet. The Chef had cleaned up after dinner and retired to his room and seemingly the same with Benjamin.

Mark was alone, and he's never felt such loneliness until now.

Bless it be the Mayor's heart, he tried calling The Colonel— William, one too many times to tell him about what happened with Mark. He hoped that maybe their dumb rivalry would be forgotten in this pitiful moment in Mark's life but.. the calls were never answered.. and Mark was left alone.

Alone. That was kinda funny, wasn't it? Growing up Mark never had a moment alone. He used to wish for them on the daily but now? He wished for nothing more than company. He'll be okay.

The hours dipped past midnight. Mark wasn't okay, who was he kidding? He had spent the last hour crying from heartbreak. His thoughts were overwhelming. He had nothing left to spill out. He spent one to three AM like this. He wished for a cure. It was four thirty AM when he found one in the form of a rope. Soon following the shape of a noose.

It felt odd to slip it around his neck, and even more so tightening it. He didn't.. feel scared. Why didn't he feel so scared at the thought of potential death? He felt nothing. Empty. He barely let his gaze trail over his bedroom before he took in a finally deep breath.

From the hours, five to eight. Mark hung. There was a struggle in the first few minutes but soon after there was nothing. Birds were singing as they always do once the sun began to rise. Inhabitants of the manor slowly waking up for the day. Well.. everyone but Mark. He's been hanging around most of the night for morning.

•••••••••

It was about a quarter past eight when the rope snapped and Mark's body fell to the ground with a loud thud. Half past eight when Mark's eyes suddenly opened and he practically wheezed; nearly choking at the intake of oxygen filling his lungs. He started coughing roughly as he pushed himself up by his elbows. His hand barely reaching up to loosen up the rope around his neck to help ease the stress.

His eyes widened as his mind caught up with everything. How the hell was he alive? He literally hung himself and yet, here he was? The sun rays shone through the windows, cascading up his legs. It was morning. When he hung himself, it was still dark out. This.. This was impossible.


	2. Dinner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops I shouldve posted this earlier lmao, enjoy ♡♡♡

Damien was concerned about Mark— No. He was deeply worried about his friend. Ever since the news of Celine leaving him came up.. Things hadn't felt the same. Honestly the Actor was behaving strangely. At least he was in the short moments that the Mayor saw him. The Actor would be distant for a while before suddenly popping into Damien's life again. This was a constant pattern. 

So here Damien sat at his desk in his mayoral office. An invitation to dinner from Mark in hand. Why didn't he just call? The Mayor just sighed and sat the invitation down. He rubbed his face lightly. Obviously he would accept he.. just wished he knew why Mark was acting so.. flippy. Either way, he'd be there for the Actor. No matter what. He had to be.

  
•••••••••  
  
  
It was later in the day, close to dipping into the dark lit hours. Damien was face to face with Mark's manor. It didn't seem too out of the ordinary or different. Though he honestly had a bad feeling. He proceeded on and was greeted by the butler. His arrival was expected. Guess Mark really knew that Damien wouldn't turn it down though honestly.. Damien expected there'd be more people. It seemed like he was the only guest. He tried not to worry about it so much honestly, and thanks to that time passed by smoothly.  
  
For.. the most part it felt normal. It seemed normal? Mark had his own usual quirks but the Mayor had grown used to those over the years. It was just a simple dinner but it felt.. Odd without Celine around or William. Damien felt his heart ache a little at the fact that the two were gone, both without a trace. There was a sense of emptiness in Mark’s eyes too that Damien wasn’t too fond of. He took a small sip of his wine as the silence fell over them. There was a kind of funny taste to it, but he’s always been a bit picky about his wines.   
  
The conversation between them seemed solely on politics at times. It was odd that Mark didn’t want to talk about his movie projects or anything but he guessed since what happened Mark hasn’t really tackled anything. Maybe he just didn’t feel ready to get thrown back into a romantic world after what happened with Celine. Dinner was well over at this point and soon the two were moving into the living room whilst the butler cleaned up the dining room and all.   
  
Though Damien couldn’t help but feel a bit strange. Almost sluggish. A dizzy feeling when he stood up. He didn’t think he drank that much? He tried not to think about it so much, plus it was a bit hard to when Mark was talking into his ear practically. They walked to the living room now and Mark seemed to walk a bit slower, almost acknowledging Damien’s disability. He’s never really done that before. Is it cruel that maybe Celine leaving Mark changed him for the better? Conversation continued once they were seated in the living room and it went on for quite some time. Though the strangeness that Damien felt only grew worse honestly.   
  
He felt.. He honestly felt a bit sick. Was it something in the food? Maybe his stomach wasn’t accepting something as well. It was hard to tell. He shakily pushed himself up to his feet with the support and hesitantly excused himself to the bathroom. Mark’s gaze was way too.. Concentrated on him. It gave him an unsettling feeling. He just tried to convince himself that Mark was worried about him and all but.. It felt like there was something more to the gaze. He managed to move out of the living room but the symptoms only spiked more. He felt faint, nauseous- He wouldn’t be able to list all the symptoms if he had too. He felt like collapsing.  
  
Benjamin quickly approached him in concern and placed a careful hand on the male’s shoulder as he buckled down from the pain. Damien could already tell. There was something wrong. There was something severely wrong and he couldn’t piece it together. He barely registered the butler’s voice of concern and he noticed the redness of Mark’s robe more to his side. The butler stepped aside almost immediately when Mark approached.   
  
“M-Mark, I-I don’t..” He winced as he started to speak. It felt like poison was burning through his system painfully fast. His vision turned a bit to a blur as he tried looking toward the Actor.  
  
The actor just softly shushed him as his hand glided down the Mayor’s back in an unsettling yet.. Faintly reassuring way. Damien lost all strength in his legs and he collapsed against the hard flooring beneath them. Mark simply watched. He tilted his head almost mockingly as he kneeled down beside the Mayor. His hand never moved away from Damien as he watched him, even when he started coughing a lot. He just gave a slight hum and dragged his hand through his hair delicately.   
  
“You’re gonna be okay, Damien. Just let go..” Mark’s voice was soft but emotionless as he watched his friend suffering. _“Just let go.”_  
  
Benjamin was honestly horrified as he watched the scene but held his tongue. He wouldn’t dare say a word, but all he could think was ‘what have you done.’ Dread and despair burned in the air. None of it affected Mark. His eyes seemed glazed over. Nothing but the look of cracking emptiness as he watched Damien take a final breath. Everything fell silent once that occurred. Mark trailed his gaze over Damien’s body for a long moment before he mumbled a light ‘Good’. The butler swallowed dryly as the Actor stood up with a casual gesture toward the Mayor’s body. It took him a second before he met the eyes of the male.  
  
“Lay him to rest in the guest bedroom please.” There was nothing to his voice. No remorse, no pain, no sorrow. Empty. Flat.   
  
That alone was more unnerving to the Butler but he just hesitantly nodded and moved to do as he was told. Mark watched him only momentarily before moving away. Back into the living room where he sat down and picked his glass of wine up. He swirled the liquid around carefully as he observed it before looking toward Damien’s abandoned glass on the coffee table..  
  
Maybe the Mayor should be a little more careful with what he drinks. _Afterall, it isn’t uncommon for public figures like him to be poisoned._


	3. Poisonous Vibrations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the next few days I'll be posting the finished chapters for this story! Sorry for the delay!

Death was meaningless, at least in this place it was. Mark had learned that through several suicide attempts. Each time he would get up in the end. He would always be breathing. There wasn't an escape. So he experimented with it. He wondered if it was him. Was he unable to die? He decided to play with something new. 

Damien always was practically on his knees for the Actor. Every call or sigh, the Mayor was there. Mark didn't have a doubt that he'd immediately show up to the Manor if he asked. So that's exactly what he did. He even considered inviting the District Attorney but he decided against it. He'd save her for a different fate. He wanted to focus on Damien first. Just as expected, Damien arrived for dinner and everything after that went smoothly. He watched him die, and just like when he was taking his own life. He felt nothing. Celine really did tear his heart out, huh?

The Butler had put Damien's body in the guest bedroom but Mark could tell he was horrified. He couldn't bring himself to care. If his theory was right, Damien would be up and walking again once morning came around. Something in the air seemed different. Almost comforting.. Almost like something wanted Damien to be dead. It was intriguing but Mark just passed it off as the affects of the wine. He lounged in the living room until his glass was empty. Afterwards, he sat it on the coffee table for Benjamin to clean and pushed himself up with a sigh; tightening the strings on his robe once more before moving on upstairs for rest. 

It wasn't really a surprise when he barely got any rest. Thoughts plaguing him. All intrusive. He just groaned and moved his hands to head, the bottom of his palms pressing into his forehead before he inevitably got up again. He planned to wander around the Manor, but he found himself moving into the guest room. He stared at the Mayor's body. There was a paleness to his skin but nothing beyond that. Mark even dared to think that Damien almost looked peaceful in death's sweet embrace. 

Mark didn't sleep that night. He couldn't really bring himself to. So from the late night hours until the sun rays filtered through the windows, he sat on the bed and held Damien's body. Nothing about it had changed over the night. Mark hummed softly as his hands dragged through the Mayor's hair nonstop. He stared at nothing in particular but he noticed movement in Damien's legs. He looked over as his head tilted to the side. His humming had stopped as he observed the body. 

  
The actor looked at the time. Half past Eight. The moment he started to look down was when Damien suddenly sat up coughing, rough and guttural before nearly falling over, off the bed. He grabbed the trash can beside the nightstand and threw up into it. Mark just sighed. What a waste of poison, but either way his theory was right.  
  
He gave him time to recover as he watched him. It’s been awhile since he’s seen Damien like this honestly. It reminded him of when they were younger. He shook out of his thoughts as Damien grabbed a few tissues to wipe his mouth. When he noticed Mark, he flinched a little and blinked absently. How long was he there? His mind started racing and heart pounding. Did.. He do what he thought he did last night? God he felt so sick, he didn’t even pull the trashcan away from his chest as he sat up a little better on the bed. His mind was hazy, he couldn’t even remember what they did last night. He already guess he had too much to drink, there was always something about Mark that always made him drink way more than he wanted.   
  
“Mark.. What the.. Hell happened last night?” He cringed at his own voice. It was rougher than usual, and there were a few cracks to the words. Mark seemed amused however.. Why did that feel a little unsettling to him?  
  
“You drank too much, and ended up passing out. I had to carry you up here because you wouldn’t budge, dead asleep all through the night. You gave us an honest scare, thought that I killed you somehow.” Mark just chuckled at his own words and shook his head as he slid off the bed. Damien looked down given how the robe lifted up a bit too much for comfort.   
  
“Drank too much..” Damien mumbled under his breath, apart of him didn’t want to believe that was all to it honestly. He looked up toward Mark when he came around the bed.   
  
The actor had nodded a little at the mumble and stood by the Mayor’s side now, resting a hand on his back, slowly trailing up and down. “Yeah, I came in to check on you. You know you talk in your sleep?”  
  
“I do?”  
  
“Yeah, a lot. It’s kinda weird.”  
  
Damien released a soft ‘hn’ in response to that and looked away from the Actor. He couldn’t help but to feel guilty about the supposed events of last night. He swallowed a little dryly and ignored the acidic bitter taste that lingered in his mouth. Mark just released a soft sigh and stepped away from him. He seemed to have a hard frown on his face when Damien looked toward him again.   
  
“Let’s try to avoid having that scare again, alright Dames?” He spoke with the heavy concern in his voice and it made Damien’s heart ache a little bit as he nodded slightly in response, “I’ll see if I have anything to alleviate your hangover.”  
  
Mark’s eyes trailed over the Mayor once more before he was turning away on his heels. What Damien couldn't see was, Mark rolling his eyes in almost annoyance as he moved out of the bedroom.. He’d have to write down the results of this little experiment down later, maybe come up with another. Given the weather outside, maybe he’ll test something with the pool. Besides it hasn’t had the privilege of hosting a body or two in quite some time. He smiled a little at his conjuring thoughts as he moved downstairs. That plan just might do. He made mental notes to write those down later as he moved into the living room, calling for the Butler so he could send some things up for Damien. Maybe Celine was right when she mentioned that there was something more about this home than originally thought.  
  
_  
__And just maybe, Mark will find a way to tap into its’ fullest potential in the coming year._  
  



	4. Breathe In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly the beginning of this chapter is my favorite,,,

Suffocating. An unbearable burning sensation in his lungs as an unknown liquid poured in. The feeling of being choked by the fluid occurred. Damien couldn’t escape it. Thrashing, fighting against the fluid. Silent screams occurring but only indication of that were the rising bubbles. Every sense being burned. No mercy. Nothing.  
  
Damien snapped awake with a sudden rough gasp of air. He choked and coughed as he sat up off the bed suddenly, one of his hands reaching for his throat as he held it. He could breathe. He was okay. No more senses of drowning. It was just a bad nightmare. A horrifying one at that. He counted out five items of a particular color before he managed to calm down again. He was okay. It was okay. He took a moment to breathe before carefully sliding his hand away from his throat. He shifted himself a little to press his back against the headboard. He counted out a few more items for safe measures.   
  
He hated how he always had to do this when he slept in Mark’s manor, even when they were young he had horrible nightmares here. He wasn’t sure why exactly either. He moved his hands and rubbed his face lightly before dragging them back through his hair, effectively creating a mess out of it but right now appearance was the least of his worries. He tried to recall why he ended up crashing here anyways. His thoughts making the assumption that Mark had asked him to stay to fight off the loneliness, or.. Well, he was feeling rather ill too. Maybe Mark made him stay given that? He couldn’t just fall on one possibility and in the end he just let it go. He laid his arms across his knees after pulling them up to his chest and leaned his head back against the headboard. Five more black items, and three more gold. Soon he was completely relaxed as he kept his breathing steady.  
  
His gaze swept to the closed curtains and soon followed the few rays of sunlight that managed to sneak through the cracks of the curtain. A weird feeling swirling in his chest as his eyes remained concentrated on the sight before they were pulled away by a noise at the door. A knock. The mayor honestly didn’t make too much of an effort to reply to it but he did make a small questioning ‘hm’ noise. It was the Butler- Some part of Damien expected it to be Mark. Afterall, the Actor seemed to be with him at every waking second. Damien’s head fell to the side a little as Benjamin walked in, he gave a soft huff to get the hair out of his face but it wasn’t too effective honestly. He didn’t stress about it.   
  
Benjamin informed him that breakfast was going to be served soon as he opened the curtains to spare some light in the room. Damien groaned at the sudden brightness of the room but he still thanked the butler. Though he grew a little confused at the look he got from the male. He seemed like he wanted to say something. Deeply troubling and worrying but he just shook his head a little bit. Instead he just mentioned, they’ll wait for him in the dining room before leaving. All of that only left Damien feeling weirder, but he tried not to worry about it too much. He simply took in a quiet deep breath before pushing himself out of bed as best he could without the assistance of his cane so he could get dressed properly. He couldn’t help but wonder what it’s like to just wander around the confines of his home in a robe like Mark often did, but he never really gained the courage to do something like that. Surely his parents would kill him for it too if they ever saw or knew about it. Save that thought for another time. Focus on the present. It didn’t take long for the usual ache of his lower body to occur, and honestly he expected it to grow worse as he went through the day. Though in the end, he just told himself that he’d be okay. A recurring pattern in the last month honestly. After cleaning himself up a bit more, Damien finally left the room and carefully down the stairs to the dining room.  
  
It wasn’t really much of a surprise when he saw Mark again. In that god forsaken robe again. He still spared a small smile toward him, and took his place in the seat across from the Actor. He placed his cane to lean against the table before his gaze fell onto the other though he blinked almost absently when the male was just staring at him with narrowed eyes before giving him a smile and finally snapping his gaze away.  
  
“Did you rest well?” Mark spoke when he looked away and lifted his glass up to take a drink from it. His eyes sweeping across the right side of the room before falling back on Damien when he moved to set the glass down.  
  
“Oh uh,” Damien hesitated for a moment. Should he really mention the nightmare to him? He looked down at the table before looking toward Mark when he received a confused look before quickly speaking again, “Yeah. I slept pretty well.”   
  
Mark gave a slight nod at that and seemed a bit pleased by the answer as he leaned back a little bit. It wasn’t long until breakfast was being served and the weirdness of the morning was swept under the rug. Calm conversation between the two being picked up and Damien didn’t even notice the shifting nervous glances that the Butler gave him and his plate. All felt normal.. At least to him minus the absence of Celine and William.  
  
After everything, breakfast with Mark and using what downtime they had; Damien didn't feel.. weird or bad about leaving afterwards. It was like when they were kids and he would come over with his parents for dinners and such. Sure there was always sadness when they separated but nothing like it was for the last month or so. Damien went to work as normal. He signed papers, had meetings and everything else. He talked to the District Attorney and mentioned his time with Mark but aside from that, there was nothing really too unusual.  
  
  
•••••••••  


The sky turned dark as the digits of time went up more and more. Damien had worked himself all to hell in the last few hours and now he was starting to feel it. Aches all up his side and down his right leg and all. He just released a sigh and gave himself a moment to lean back in his seat. His mind reflecting on all that's happened and he frowned a little bit. He hasn't heard from Celine or William in the last month and the possibilities of what could've happened to him caused his anxiety to spike immediately. He took in a deep breath before learning forward, within those seconds he was already reaching for the phone and dialing their numbers. He must've done this for an hour tops. Each time there wasn't an answer. He slammed it down for the final time and couldn't help the sudden curse that slipped from his lips. He's never gone this long without talking to Celine and William usually sent him something if he was off on deployment or some weird expedition. He rubbed his face and shook his head before pushing away from his desk. He reached up to loosen his tie— He had took his jacket off a few hours ago before grabbing his cane. He needed to pace for a moment. 

What if something was wrong? What if something bad happened and he was in the dark about it? He paced back and forth in his office to the point his feet were aching. One more step and his leg seemingly gave out. He nearly crumpled down to the floor but he managed to catch his weight using his desk as support. Now it just looked like he was taking a knee for some weird reason. He released a weak groan and shook his head slightly, carefully pulling a chair closer to himself and pushing himself into it. His cane clattering to the floor as he sunk into the chair. He just placed his hand over his face and forced himself to take a deep breath. Trying to remember what Celine said about being calm but thinking of her only upset him more. His mind racing by and he couldn't handle it.  _ What happened to them? _


	5. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BONUS CHAPTER TODAY BECAUSE WHY NOT !!

Maybe he should have expected this. The sense of anger and betrayal that flooded his emotions, conjuring toxic thoughts at every possible thing told. He should have known better. He did know better. After all these years.. All those subtle comments, glances and smiles. The sheet was pulled off his eyes. He wasn’t blind anymore, and he never will be again.   
  
Though let’s backtrack a bit, shall we? It’s been quite sometime since Mark and Damien have talked. Honestly it’s been awhile since Mark has talked to anyone that wasn’t his own staff. Damien would call out of worry but the Actor always just left those to be ignored. The butler would just tell the mayor it was a bad time before ending the call. Mark’s entire behavior and demeanor took a change. In the morning, he would plot. He had a whole room dedicated to it and at night, he would begin some of those plots. He drowned himself, poisoned himself, bled himself out. Any gruesome death he could come up with and yet he was still breathing. He was still walking, though on the outside he appeared lively; the inside was much different. Each death took something out of him. He started to grow desensitized to things. The other day he watched the chef accidentally cut himself and he bled pretty heavily but Mark.. Didn’t feel anything about it. He just stared with a glazed over look. At this point, he never thought about it.  
  
His plots developed more. From suicides to revenge. He wanted revenge on Celine- On William. He wanted them to feel the kinds of pain he felt in the last few months. He wanted them to pay but first he had to play along with this little game of cat and mouse. He hired a private detective to find them, and to follow them. Though he didn’t expect to find out that the two had ran off together. Heartbreak was replaced with severe anger instead. Though he just thanked the detective for the update, even if it made him want to scream bloody murder.   
  
They would meet. The detective- Abe, would update him on what he’s gather on the two, then they’d go their separate ways again. Each update- each small little tab built up more and more anger in Mark. One night to just get it out he ended up stabbing himself several times. He died again but it never last. It never did. That was the first time in quite some time that Mark did his own cleaning. Hanging was one thing, but bloody sheets were another. The anger never went away though, if anything it only took a turn for the worse. Mark only started to plot more. Endless amount of schemes being developed all turning brutal in the end but he didn’t have much care for that. They didn’t care about the pain they put him through so why should he care?

Mark would often sit in the study and stare at the bulletin board that Abe had put up in there all about Celine and the Colonel. The connections, the accidents that occasionally followed. Photograph after photograph. Location after location. Mark would sit there for hours and just stare. He wouldn’t let anyone disturb him, not the butler and certainly not the mayor. Those hours he spent there were sometimes used for scheme development. He would write things down ideas. Ideas of how to ruin William’s life, or how to keep Celine from ever breaking anyone else’s heart. He convinced himself that he was the hero in all of this; That he was doing the world a favor by doing this. That this was right, joined with the god awful belief he wasn't in the wrong. He never was. 

  
•••••••••  
  


It was dark out when Mark returned to his bedroom. Dark and silent for the most part besides distant shuffling of the staff and ticking of clocks. He just took a moment to take it all in before moving away. He loosened the strings on his robe, they fell untie and hung past his waist as his robe opened. He stepped to the mirror as he let it slide off his shoulders before disposing the top underneath. The stab wounds were still there. They never healed, nor did they get worse. Dried blood surrounded each puncture. How many did he count before? Around maybe.. Thirty-Seven? He didn't have the patience to redo the counting. His gaze trailed up and down his body. Physical injuries remained the same as before seemingly. A broken body, and well.. that certainly won't do with his current schemes and plots. He's gonna have to fix that, and he already had an idea forming of what to do about it. He smiled to himself, tracing over one of the wounds before pulling his hand away to close his robe and tie the strings together. 

The following hours he didn't sleep. He was wide awake, writing down everything he could think of. The whispers through his mind only worsen the plans thought of. Down into a spiral. He won't be able to recover from this, and nor will the others once it comes to action. When the morning hours came, he didn't even noticed. His surroundings were tuned out, his gaze following every written word. They felt heavy but he's never felt more energized. He didn't even acknowledge when the butler came in, and definitely didn't recognize the words being spoken to him. There was nothing pulling him out of this, and soon the butler left him be with an uneasy feeling about what was happening. It was closer to noon when Mark snapped out of his trance. He squinted a little when he looked up towards the windows before down at the pages he spent the entire night writing. A tired smile as he looked them over. Everything was slowly piecing together now. So close yet so far away from being the perfect plan. Maybe a few more months before he could enact it but once it happens, it's a done deal. Sealed with a kiss from the devil himself. 

_ He'll make Celine and William regret running off together, and he'll definitely make sure it can  _ ** _never_ ** _ happen again. _


	6. Tiptoe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't write good dads like ever lmao ALSO AMY !

It was a rough morning. Damien found it hard to focus today, then again he’s been on edge for.. Awhile. Honestly he’s lost track of how long he’s felt like this. Mark was distant and he was still completely in the dark about what happened with William and Celine. He struggled with trying to keep it off his mind. It made it difficult to focus on his work. It made it difficult trying to do anything if he was honest. He had to get things done today, He just wished there could be a switch in his mind to turn it off. He’ll be okay.. maybe.  
  
He tried to keep his mind on the tasks he absolutely had to finish today. Though as he passed by some of the staff of the building, he ended up catching bits of their conversation. Something about an affair? He frowned as the words repeated in his mind. Affair. That brought back some unpleasant memories from his childhood. He tried suppressing them. He didn’t want to remember them, he didn’t want to get swept up into it but the moment he got to his office and leaned back against his door. The memories broke through the mental block and gushed through. He had no choice but to deal with the bits of memories.

  
•••••••••

  
He was young. He didn’t remember how young but he knew it was after he met Mark and William. His parents were always a bit overwhelmingly strict with certain things- Completely different from their parents honestly. At least in the sense, Mark and WIlliam were kinda spoiled. The things that they did, his parents would honestly kill him for doing. Now he was kinda glad Celine wasn’t around as much back then because she would’ve gotten him in trouble so many times if she knew about the things they did and everything Damien had lied about.

Though on the subject of affairs, he remembered seeing his father with another woman- It wasn’t really any woman though. If no immediate family members were available or Mark and Wil’s parents were busy then they’d hire a babysitter. She was always.. Nice but the sights of her and his father tainted his view of her. Some resentment built up in addition to that but it was never expressed. Constantly suppressed. Afterall if he were to confront his dad about it, he’d probably be knocked into next week given the late hours he caught it in.   
  
The tiptoeing and sneaking around habits developed due to mainly Mark though whilst at his manor, they would get into things they weren’t supposed to; Damien never dared to pull that at home. Too scared of the punishment it’d lead to. So he’d sneak around. Often he would just go to Celine’s room due to the inability to sleep. He used to go to his parents’ room when it came to that but as he grew older, the more distant they got and more detached Damien got. Instead, he just turned to grow attached to his twin. Plus he wanted to avoid the scolding or the annoyance in his father’s voice about how his mother was ‘enabling’ him with these nervous habits. Sometimes that led to fights between them, and Damien always felt worse for being a bit more.. Needy than his twin counterpart.   
  
Though ever since witnessing the affair, Damien grew to dislike his father more and more. He even tried telling Celine about what he saw but she didn’t believe him. She would just roll her eyes at him and of course, defend their dad. Damien always hated that. She always had to be right.   
  
“You’re just mad at him for lecturing you,” Celine would _always _mention that and it angered Damien every time because it wasn’t true, “Stop making things up.”   
  
Even Mark would doubt him! The only person that didn’t seem to doubt him immediately was William. Though he never exactly stated he believed him completely either. Though it did drive him insane quite honestly. He just wanted someone to believe him for once. Though that was the past. All of it was in the past.  
  
Damien just sighed and rubbed his face lightly before pushing off the door to move around his desk and sit down, giving his legs the rest they needed now. Now that he thought about it, he did notice how differently their parents treated him and Celine. Did his mom take more pity on him given his condition? He couldn’t help the small scowl that formed on his face as he shook his head a little bit. He really hoped that wasn’t the case. No wonder Celine would get snappy at him sometimes.   
  
This is why he wished he had an off switch in his mind. He just let himself get swept up in thoughts and memories; wasting time that could be used for something more productive than this. Irritating as ever. No more memories, no more thoughts. Just focus on the now. On the papers that needed signed and pass off, and the events that needed planning. There was too much to do than remember the past.

  
•••••••••  
  


Time was lost, at least the concept of it. What felt like only a few minutes was actually several hours. Damien didn’t snap out of it until there was a knock on his door, and it took him honestly a moment to really process that happened until someone’s head peeked in. The DA- Amy, she tilted her head in faint confusion before shaking her head slightly as she pushed the door open and moved into the office with a quiet sigh. She was used to Damien’s working habits.  
  
“I think it’s time for a break, yeah?” She stopped a little away from his desk and loosely crossed her arms as Damien just sighed and leaned back a little bit. He went to speak up but she spoke first, “And ‘no’ is not a valid answer, Dames.”  
  
He just rolled his eyes at her with an amused scoff slipping out in the process. He sat his pen down and just gestured toward one of the chairs in front of his desk, as he slumped a little into his’. She took the offer and sat down, propping her leg up onto her opposing knee now. 

  
“You win this time.” Damien mumbled that with a soft exhale before shifting a little in his seat, and Amy only laughed at that.    
  
“I’ll always win.”

  
He just gave a small irritated sigh at that and shook his head at her which only prompted more laughter from her. They talked for.. maybe an hour. Maybe longer. Neither one really kept track of the time. Damien told her about the situation between Mark and Celine, as well as the lack of communication he’s been having with the both of them. He didn’t mention William. Honestly, he felt like she was too observant for comfort. Maybe he’d say the wrong thing and she’d be like _‘Aha! You do like him more than a friend!’ _Just the thought of that made him anxious. That was a weird thing to be worried about. Maybe he was just overthinking everything but there was already enough speculation about it in the public eye.   
  
Enough of that. Aside from the lack of communications, he talked about a few ideas for projects he had in mind and got her opinion about them. Admittedly, they helped more than expected. At this point, he wasn’t sure what he’d do without her. Soon enough they parted ways, but it was reassuring to know he’ll be seeing her again. It always was honestly. He just wished he had that feeling with Mark, Celine and William. 


	7. Hour Of Desperation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last written chapter will be posted later today!!!! Then it'll be all up to date heh

Something wasn't right. Damien could immediately pick up on it but if he was honest, he didn't really remember how he got here. He recognized that it was Mark's manor. His gaze swept around the surroundings closely. There wasn't a single detail missing, it was picture perfect. Damien swallowed dryly. What the hell was going on?

"Mark?.. Benjamin?" He called that out after a brief moment of hesitation but got no response. Everything was too silent. 

There was nothing. He just took in a sharp breath before carefully moving out of his spot. Nothing in the environment seemed disturbed by anything honestly. He slowly approached the back door as he gripped his cane tighter; peering through the glass, he felt himself freeze. Mark and his staff, Celine, William, and even Amy were gathered. Fabrics of black being the main eye catcher. What the hell was going on? He managed to push through the door and meet the outside environment but it felt no different from being inside. No noticeable temperature difference; the air didn’t even feel any different.   
  
“Guys?” He spoke up almost immediately as he slowly approached the crowd, frowning a little to himself.  
  
William had his arm around Celine’s shoulders comfortingly. Amy was crying- Knowing her she’d probably punch anyone if they tried touching her right now. Damien only grew more confused. Why wasn’t anyone responding to him? He moved closer. Mark seemed to be in disbelief as he stared at something, and immediately Damien followed his gaze. It was met with a casket. He winced a little at the sound of his cane clattering down against the hard ground. He saw himself in the casket. This.. wasn’t..- No, this couldn’t be happening. He just stared. He couldn’t feel his heart beating anymore. Was.. Was he dead?  
  
A gunshot rang through his ears and his eyes slammed shut almost immediately with a wince. Now he felt heavy. His eyes opened again out of sheer panic and he was met with a blue sky, barely cloudy. There was another gunshot and then more screams- Wait, screams? He barely managed to tilt his head to the side, there was a crowd of people dispersing in panic, and with that he remembered. He was giving a speech.. And someone decided to take a few shots at him. The bullets just barely missed him, and luckily he was out of the way from anymore gunfire. Whatever he saw.. It was some kind of panicked vision, right? God, he really hoped that was the case.  
  
He heard Amy's voice yelling out his name in genuine panic. She was fighting against the crowd to get to the platform stage, once she got to it; she didn't hesitate to jump up and run over to the Mayor. He tried to tell her not to, but she didn't listen. His worst fear came true when another gunshot echoed through the air and she let out a cry as she stumbled before toppling over. He felt the splatter of her blood hit his clothing and that was something he'd never forget.

"Amy?!" He didn't even realized he practically screamed that. An edge of hysteria to his voice as he reached out for her with widened eyes. 

He didn't even care anymore. If he was shot than so be it, he had to get over to Amy. He managed to crawl over to her and dreaded every noise he heard in the process; once he got to her he quickly sat up on his knees and pulled his jacket off quickly to stop the blood flow. Tears building in his eyes.

"Amy, d-don't die on me pl-please. Stay with me, okay? J-Just hang on." He started spilling words out as he applied pressure to the wound, a few tears fell. There was so much blood. 

Everything after that was a complete blur.

  
•••••••••  
  


Damien couldn't shake the feeling of having Amy's blood on him. It haunted him. Every painstaking second that passed.. it's all he could think about. He blamed himself for what happened to her. He didn't have the energy to even listen to what Mark was saying to him. He couldn't bring himself to care. All he could think about was Amy. If she.. doesn't recover.. He'll never forgive himself. 

"Damien? Damien!— Are you even listening to me?" Mark's voice made Damien's gaze snap towards the Actor. After seeing him in that red robe for so long, it felt odd to see him in a suit. He had a feeling that it wouldn't last however.

"Wh-?.. Yeah.. I jus'.. I dunno.." He shook his head and immediately reached up to rub his face a little bit. He forced himself to take a deep breath. He wished William was here instead of Mark. He was better at being comforting than the Actor was.

Mark failed to hide his annoyance at the Mayor's words, and it made Damien cringe just slightly. He could've died today, and Mark didn't even seem to care? He tried to push those thoughts away as he released a sigh and hung his head low. 

"Look, Dames. I know you're worried about Amy but she'll be fine. She's a tough girl! Not just some eye candy for you. She'll be recovering just fine, guarantee it!" 

Okay, Damien felt like punching him for the eye candy comment. He didn't think of Amy in that way, and he wouldn't ever. He respected her way too much. Even if he was interested in her, he wouldn't treat her like some trophy wife like Mark did to Celine. He just gave a subtle glare toward Mark. Yeah, William was way better at conforming than he was. He turned his gaze away after a moment and rubbed his face again. Mark was right in some degree. Amy was strong. Almost comparable to Celine honestly. He just hoped she'd be strong enough to tell death to fuck off. 

"Right.. Thanks.. Mark." He just mumbled that quietly though some part of him didn't really mean it. He just wanted Mark to drop the subject, and he did thankfully. 

Damien could already tell that he wasn't gonna rest easy until he knew that Amy was okay, he wouldn't be able to lose another loved one this year, especially if it was her.  _ "Please be okay, Ames.." _


	8. Consequence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now you're officially caught up! Congratulations! Now I just need to write chapter nine..

Twisting. Seeping. Broken. Mark had been staring at his reflection for awhile. His reflection started to feel foreign to him. Almost as if the sight he was met with was not his reflection. It started to feel that way as his head slowly tilted and an odd smile crept up on his reflection. Spoiler alert, he wasn't smiling. His gaze swept down to the opening of the silk robe, barely reaching up to reveal the skin underneath. Nothing had changed; stab wounds, bruises, and cuts. The only thing really noticeable was his paleness. He couldn't drag his gaze away as he stared. His eyes narrowed just a little at his reflection, something was wrong. One small blink before focusing and there was a blackness seeping from his injuries. Another blink and it was gone. Huh. An uneasy feeling sat in. Nauseating. He stared at his face again, this time he stepped closer to the mirror; leaning over the sink counter to get closer.

His hand slowly reaching up to brush over his cheek— Touching both sides. He lifted his other hand up to touch as well. It didn't feel right. His stomach felt like it was twisting more and more. His nails dug into his skin and it peeled off easily. No resistance from it. It was like peeling an orange. His hands jerked back out of shock for a moment. Blood started seeping out now. He wasn't sure what overtook him as he lowered his head and practically clawed at the skin of his face. Blood dripped onto the counter more and more followed by pieces of skin. When he saw his reflection again, he screamed. He was horrified. He felt human for once. His back hit the wall and he slid down. He started sobbing, knees pressed against his chest as his elbows sat on top of his knees; his arms blocked his face. He ended up cradling his head in the end. He could feel the hysteria build up deep in the melting pot of his soul. He’s spilled so much blood. There was so much of it. It was everywhere. All the pain that filled the emptiness. Maybe it was his fault, and he was taking it out on his staff- His only few friends left in the world. He hurt Damien- He didn’t even do anything! What was _wrong _with him?   
  
...Maybe Damien did deserve it. He was there the same night Celine left, did they plan this? Him trying to be around so much- So obsessively. Was he supposed to distract Mark from finding Celine and William? Did he know about this affair? That human feeling was gone again. Instead he felt a coldness wrapped around his body and squeeze him tightly. It felt suffocating. His hands rubbed over his face. Smooth. No feeling of unevenness from the loss of skin. He shakily pushed himself up the wall before moving toward the mirror. It was normal. Maybe he really was starting to lose his mind? He rubbed over his face once more before stepping back a little bit. Conflicting emotions built up inside now.   
  
_“Just let me die.” __  
__  
_**_. . ._****_  
_**_  
__“No?.. _**_Then I want them all dead.._**_”__  
  
_

•••••••••  
  


Amy was shot. Damien was nearly shot. Somehow that didn’t bother Mark like the last time it happened. It’s happened once before-- Damien nearly getting shot back when he was first running for Mayor. Though Mark forgets the reason why it happened exactly. He just remembered the shooter was caught and arrested. He remembered William being particularly shaken by it. He thought he’d be used to this sort of thing given his status but he guessed it’s different when it’s someone you love. Everyone was on edge that day. So why did Mark really feel nothing when it came to this? He just felt.. Annoyed at Damien being on edge.  
  
He took him home. If he didn’t Damien would’ve been at the hospital all night just for that girl. Maybe the public would stop assuming stuff about the Mayor finally with that knowledge. When they got home it felt like something in the air changed. He just felt more pissed off, and Damien seemed more anxious. He just rolled his eyes and called for Ben to get drinks for them to take the edge off after the events from this morning. Forget and move on was always a great thing to live by, right? Damien seemed faintly irritated by that though.  
  
“Is it really the time for that?” He just seemed so disapproving.  
  
“What do you mean? Right now is the perfect time! Forget and move on, Dames- Pretty sure you were the one who said that originally.” Mark only grew more irritated by just the look on the Mayor’s face as he spoke.   
  
It was easy to notice the hostility in the air. Afterall, it was a feeling that was constantly around whatever Mark started his shit around WIlliam. It felt a bit odd to be feeling it around Damien however.   
  
“You’re unbelievable.” Damien scoffed as he shook his head whilst Ben hesitantly approached the actor with a tray consisting of two filled glasses and a bottle of wine. Even the butler wasn’t blind to the hostility between the two males. Mark only felt more anger stir up inside as he glared at the Mayor.  
  
“_I’m_ unbelievable? Are you kidding me?”  
  
Things escalated way too quickly for comfort. Damien easily losing his temper and so did Mark quite honestly. More and more words were said to become regretted soon after the conflict. All it took was Damien to say the wrong thing and Mark practically snapped. Damien even regretted those damn words the moment they slipped out. Barely a second went by before he realized and he immediately went to apologize but he was barely half way through the beginning of the apology before Mark grabbed the wine bottle off the tray and threw it toward the Mayor’s head.   
  
Damien didn’t get out of the way in time.  
  
The bottle shattered and Mark barely processed what happened until it was too late. More blood on his hands, and Damien definitely saw Mark in a different light. For a moment, that human feeling was back and Mark’s eyes widened at the sight of the other. He barely stepped forward.  
  
“D-Damien- I.. I didn’t m-mean to..”  
  
But those words did nothing to repair the situation. It was too late. Mark felt cold again. Empty. There was nothing he could do to take back this mistake, and thoughts soon crept into his mind that glorified this action. Thoughts that Mark doing this was purely justified because Damien couldn’t shut his mouth— That the Mayor deserved it.   
_  
__And now Mark was starting to believe that they were right. _


	9. In Search Of Lost Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I jus learned how to do italics on here so gonna be reediting all the old chapters now 👀👀

Blood. Blood had been spilled at this manor one too many times. Damien, Mark and even William were no strangers to each other's spilled blood. They were always mere children however, things that ended with splatters of blood were usually accidents. Usually. Some would disagree, especially if we recall the memory of how Damien got the scar on his left hand. Could you take a guess to how? 

Mark was always.. a bit extra. That's always been fused with his personality since they were all young boys, and sometimes he took things too far. That's how Damien ended up with a deep gash across his left palm. It was a lot of blood for a few barely seven to nine year old kids to see. It was probably the most distressed William and Mark had ever seen Damien. It was a terrifying evening. Damien remembered Mark's mother wrapping it in bandages. Mark's parents were always so sweet, at least to him they were. He wasn't too sure how they were to William or Mark for that matter, but they were nice to him. Maybe because he was younger than Mark and William. Maybe. 

Zeroing in present day, this moment wasn't so different from that. The only exception is that Mark's parents weren't around, and nor was William. Along with the shattered glass on the floor and spill of alcohol. It was all the same in the end, right? 

_“D-Damien- I.. I didn’t m-mean to..”_  
  
Those words hit like a stack of bricks. Damien could've sworn it was the same words when the gash was created on his left hand. Old habits die hard? Maybe it was the head trauma but he couldn't exactly recall what happened after that. Though whatever did happen, it probably ended with a heavy negative note. 

What Damien did remember was pulling shards of glass out of his face. He remembered cleaning each small wound. He remembered his cat, Silver calling for attention during the entire process whilst rubbing against his legs. After everything was patched up to the best of his ability, he remembered laying back on his bed with Silver on his chest. A hand barely trailing along the cat's back as he stared at the ceiling. Events replaying on loop in his brain. It felt like chunks of his memory was just.. gone. It was like watching a tape that kept skipping parts of the film. Irritating. 

Memories that weren't even relevant started to sprout up in his mind. They all had a recurring theme though, they all had something to do with William. It started with moments from their childhood, to teenage life to adult life. Damien's heart never stopped beating for him, huh? He remembered when William gave him Silver. Early Christmas present. Unfortunately the Colonel wasn't gonna be around for Christmas. Damien always talked about adopting a cat but he just.. never had time. Fond memory. Though it was starting to grow scatter again. He was struggling to connect to the next memory now. He didn't want to remember all.. this. He just wanted to remember what happened between him and Mark. 

His mind didn't care what he wanted. Instead it just brought up the conversation he and the Colonel had a week before all this disappearance stuff happened, and it cracked his heart. He clenched his fist now as he remembered. Why did he say that? He hated how he remembered every detail of the scene. 

_ "...Did you get a new jacket?" _

_ "What? No, it's not a new jacket. What's going on?" _

Why didn't he try harder to avoid that conversation? He should've made something up that night! Wasn't hard to find some excuse but.. Wil was always great at seeing through his bullshit. He was like that too with Mark. No wonder they didn't get along anymore. 

_ "W-We're gonna fuck up one d-day or something and everyone is gonna re-realize that we—.."  _

He broke down so easily. Why did he give up on hiding those thoughts from William so quickly that night? Usually he had some sense of resistance but that night.. It was just gone. What was causing that spiked paranoia? 

_ "What if Amy finds out? Or Celine? Or even Mark!? We both know Mark would fucking ruin us both if he found out!" _

_ "Mark is  _ ** _not_ ** _ gonna find out, okay? I'll make sure he won't. If you want to be more careful that's fine with me, but please, don't shut me out. Don't do this to me." _

At the price of being more careful, it felt like Damien lost his happiness. In some regards, he kinda did. After that night, it felt like a lot turned for the worst. Maybe he was overthinking it. He's never felt worse. Well, until that morning came of Celine being gone. It's.. been a downward spiral, hasn't it?

_ "I don't know, but whatever happens I promise I won't leave you. I'm here whenever you need me." _

But where _are_ you now, William? Gone without a trace? Was it Damien's fault? Maybe he pushed him away too much.. Maybe William gave up on him.. If something were to come up, Wil would’ve told him, right? He wouldn’t just leave him behind in the dust.. Right? Maybe Damien ruined that when he pushed away from him.   
  
He released a groan and reached up to cover his face for the time being. He shouldn’t be thinking about this. Stop thinking about William. Just _stop_. He’s gone, just forget it. Maybe Damien will finally learn from his mistakes of getting attached.. Maybe not. Probably not. 

Damien remained like that only for a moment longer before Silver was pawing at his hands. He just released a sigh and moved his hands away as he looked toward the cat that immediately nuzzled against his left cheek before looking away toward the ceiling. 

"Thanks Silver.. Least I still have you." He mumbled that quietly under his breath. He should've held his tongue given the fact after the nuzzling, Silver ended up leaving his side and jumping onto the floor. He just released a slightly amused huff at that and shook his head slightly. "..Thanks."

Maybe that was Silver's way of saying he'd be alright.  _ He hoped so anyways.. _


	10. Minute Of Decay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S FINALLY HERE! So sorry for how long it took for this chapter to come out. Thank you for your patience ♡ 
> 
> Particular big shoutout to my platonic soulmate, Ranae for contributing to this chapter. It means so much to me. She's also the reason that this chapter is finally releasing. So give her some preesh!!
> 
> Oh, and yes this chapter is very graphic so be warned additionally; trigger warning
> 
> Enjoy!

It burned. All the way down his frame it burned. In a good way... If that made sense. At least he could feel something. His palms pressed against the shower wall, his head lowered and his eyes closed. Slowly, he opened them.. He watched blood swirl down the drain; not much dirt or anything else. Just blood. He closed his eyes again with a quiet exhale. 

He was surprised that blood still seemed to flow after everything that's happened. He'd had comments from his staff about how he feels stone-cold. Benjamin was the most concerned. He always waved him off about it, though. Maybe it was a part of being dead... Wait, was he technically dead? His wounds don't heal, he's grown paler... always cold. Huh. Now that he thought about it, he started to feel sick. He shook his head and tilted his head up, shifting under the sprinkle of the shower head. 

The burning felt nice. His eyes were shut a bit longer before he opened them and glanced down. His fingers barely grazed his thigh but he felt an odd releasing sensation followed by a numb feeling. It confused him as he lifted his hand up to examine before it froze. His index finger's nail snagged right off. Well. That's... something... He swallowed, his throat dry. His other hand reached up to grasp his middle finger's nail. It barely took any effort, it pulled right off. No resistance. This was... disgusting. 

He shook his head and took in a deep breath. His eyes squeezed shut momentarily before opening. He felt so sick all of a sudden. His eyes opened and swept down to his hands again.. that's when he noticed the opening bursts littering along his arms. Inner rotting muscles and all visible at just the right angle. It was all over him and he screamed. His back slammed back against the wall as the panic fell over him. The water was easily peeling off some bits of his skin, and down the drain it went. Even some of his hair went down with it. A rotting stench filled the air. He could feel himself trembling. It overtook his whole body.

The Actor struggled to turn the knob of the shower off and barely pushed the curtain aside before he was keeling over the side of the bathtub. So much for keeping the floors clean, huh? Vomit with the special ingredients of blood, maggots and pure rot spilled on the nice tiles. Well, at least he wasn't collapsed in it. He was admittedly almost there until he saw the sight of the maggots squirming around in his thrown up blood and the rot. That changed. If he had more contents in his stomach, he probably would've thrown up more. How lucky that he didn't.

The delusions seem to be growing worse now. It wouldn't be the last time he screamed that night.

•••••••••

The motel smelled like cheap cigarettes and alcohol, the kind of smell you'd expect rock-bottom to have. There were holes in the curtains and the windows were dirty, rust along the faucet and showerhead of the small bathroom. These places always seemed to exist in their own little bubble of reality. Nobody cared that there was no hot water, dust on the furniture. Nobody asked any questions, and the outside world just kept spinning while this place seemed frozen still in time.

William sat on the bed, alone. Last night Celine had been in the spot next to him. Though after a fair amount of arguing and fighting, she had stormed off on her own. She wanted to go farther away from Mark, William just needed to go back to Damien.

He didn't mean to be gone like that. 'It's only for a few days', she had convinced him. 'Don't call him, he might tell Mark. He can't know.' It felt like it had been years ago. The man who stared back at him in the mirror when he shaved the scruff off his cheeks had hollow eyes and a tired face.

It wasn't worth it. He should have stayed home, with the one his heart really belonged to. At least he now knew what his heart wanted. It quite possibly was the very thing he now lost completely. He pressed his face against his hands, nails digging into his own skin. 

Damien must surely hate him. Who wouldn't, after William disappeared after their last argument in the manor? He said they should keep some distance, but not like this. He never planned for it to happen like this. 

A sob was muffled through his palms, he kept them pressed over his mouth, a feeble attempt to choke out the soul crushing regret clawing its way up his throat. Quiet tears were streaming down his face, running down along his knuckles and dripping off his fingertips.

The sun was long gone again when the salt dried on his skin. William rubbed his face, as he glanced at the gun on the nightstand, frowned, and stared back out the blurry window. He was in the middle of nowhere, with no car and no chance to call for a cab. William got up, grabbing the silver revolver and weighting it in his hand for a moment. With a sigh he checked if the safety was on, tucked it back into his pants, grabbed his remaining things and headed out.

The air was cold in his lungs as he looked down either side of the road, and departing towards the left. He had a long way ahead of him to get back to the last town they crossed, but he didn't care. His feet and legs would be sore, but it didn't matter.

He just needed to get back home; back to Damien.

•••••••••

Everything felt like a blur. At least for Mark they have. It was a funny little numb feeling that he carried around since the shower accident. He remembered Benjamin coming in, but anything past that was blocked out. That’s been happening a lot, hasn’t it? Wasn’t he a bit too young for memory issues? Maybe it’s something to look into. Maybe.  
  
Mayhaps he was losing his mind. All these... dark hallucinations that he kept experiencing.. Were they all stemming from his mind going out of control? Each one involved some kind of self mutilation. Mayhaps repressed feelings were trying to claw their way out of the dark corners of his mind? The whispering was back. The kind that whispered sweet nothings of death. The kind that whispered pleadings for him to hang overnight again. Is it bad to say he’s considered it? Maybe extreme self mutilation would prevent him from coming back again. Maybe. Though, he had a feeling that it wouldn’t go as smoothly as he’d like.  
  
This is what they would want though, isn’t it? They’d want him out of the picture. It would avoid scandal being cried in the press. Whose side would they take? The victim or lying cheaters? If he died, they could just continue this endeavor with no difficulty. They could move on; marriage, children even? The thought of it made him tense. He’s never hated something any more than that, and down that spiral he went.  
  
They want him dead, so out of spite he should live. Besides who would get justice? Well, maybe he could puppeteer Abe into doing so. Certainly could pluck a little at his justice strings. After all, a mysterious death of a former friend wouldn’t go uninvestigated, and if Mark could frame William for it… Justice would definitely be served. He just needed to find a way to get back at Celine as well. A special kind of deal to keep her from ever breaking anyone else’s heart ever again. 

_ That shouldn't be so hard to figure out. He just needs to pull a few more strings for it.. _.


	11. Visitation Of The Ghost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the wait. Been of a filler chapter but I hope yall enjoy it!

Sometimes Mark felt like he wasn’t alone in empty rooms. Sometimes he felt like there was another festering presence. Sometimes that was irritating. He had that feeling a lot when he was in his bedroom. Usually the whispering was at its strongest when the feeling was around. Each time it occurred something different was being spoken. This time... Whatever it was, it was demanding, and practically angry. He felt... Uneasy. Sometimes the worst hallucinations occurred during these times. Maybe he was crazy... Maybe he should get some fresh air. He hasn’t seen Damien in awhile, he hadn’t checked in on how Amy has been either. How long ago was the shooting? Why couldn’t he remember? What day was it? What month? _ Year _? He’s really lost track of it all, hasn’t he? 

His reflection was something far too unfamiliar to him at this point. He needed to shave. He looked like he's been sleeping in the streets or under bridges for the last few months. A haircut wouldn't kill him either. It might prove smart to freshen up anyways. He sighed and turned away from the mirror, walking out to his bedroom that was still a chaotic mess. He'll clean it up later… maybe. It wasn't too important. Not like he'll be having anyone in his bedroom anytime soon. 

It was odd to mention how somewhat unfamiliar his own home had become; walking through the halls felt… different. His hands sliding along the staircase railings as he followed them down to the ground level. There was more life around here. Chef was taking in the kitchen inventory and Benjamin was dusting off the decorations. Through the windows he could see the groundskeeper. Everyone was busy. Hard at work. Mark could easily guess why. He watched his staff a moment longer before padding away from the staircase and entering his study instead. 

His eyes almost immediately fell onto the sealed envelopes laid neatly on his desk close to the typewriter. As he stopped to look, he reached down to pick one up that was addressed to William. His eyes narrowed in thought for a moment before he dropped the envelope down and pulled them all together in a pile. He should have Benjamin send them out. He'll have to keep that in mind as he sat down with a quiet huff and slumped down in his seat. His eyes remained on the envelopes before trailing away. It was... September. Yeah. Last week of it. Has it really been that long since— No. Let's not think about that right now. Save it for later. More important things are at stake now. 

•••••••••

Time was forgotten about, wasn’t it? Damien’s mind slipped away from Mark- From William, and even Celine. Instead his work occupied his mind, as did Amy and Silver. Amy had recovered well since the accident a few months ago. Since then, she’s grown unbothered by it, and neither was Damien... at least, not anymore. For the most part, things felt normal again. That was certainly a feeling Damien missed.  
  
Well, as normal as he could get at the time being. It was better than nothing. Amy was always nice to be around. She kept his mind off of things. Although now that we revisit all this, he couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty about falling out of contact with Mark He shouldn’t have, and yet he did. Why were emotions so complicated? After the last interaction he figured he’d never want to see his face again yet here we are.  
  
Damien released a loud groan and rubbed his face before sitting up on his bed. He had the day off, but that wasn’t any excuse for him to stay in bed all day, as much as that did sound nice. He needed to go out more anyway, you know, get some good fresh air. Though it felt like his body disagreed with him completely. He gave himself a few more moments before finally pushing himself out of bed. Everything ached. Maybe he slept wrong again.  
  
It wasn’t the biggest of worries right now. Huh, that was kinda funny. He didn’t really feel any sort of stress. Calm before the storm, mayhaps? He shrugged his thoughts off and focused on what he originally went to do. Shower. Maybe the heat will help with the aching. That was the hope anyways.  
  
The shower brought a different sense of calmness. Maybe it was simply the early morning feeling, or the heat that trailed down his frame but whatever it was. It was nice. It made him feel less lonely. After a while, it became less about cleaning and more just sitting under the water. That was equally as nice. He could probably fall asleep here if he so desired. It was tempting… but no. Probably not a good idea.  
  
Damien needed this more than he thought. It’s weird how something so simple could prove so fulfilling. Though of course, all good things have to come to an end eventually, right? That proved more accurate as a creeping feeling slid over his shoulders. He didn’t feel exactly alone right now. He hated to admit it, but it was familiar; he’s felt this before with Celine. It was hard to forget, but it was probably harmless, right? Last time it was harmless. Why would it be any different now? Coaxing himself to relax wasn’t really as effective as he hoped. But it’ll pass soon, right?

•••••••••

The feeling did not go away. It was like a weighted blanket that he couldn’t pull off. It followed him around. It was starting to grow irritating. This circumstance started to remind him of something that happened when he was younger... Back at Mark’s manor, he and Celine were staying the night, as per usual. That night felt off in more ways than one. First quiet whispers, then sounds of movement in the darkness, just outside their periphery. An unsettling vibe washed over both of them, a third unseen presence. He recalled sharing a knowing look with his sister more than once during the darker hours, aware of some invisible force around them.

He never really questioned why or how they knew about it, especially when the others seemed so oblivious. During that time, he always tried so desperately to ignore it. As he grew older, that seemed to be successful… but at what cost? One discomfort replaced with another? 

How was Celine always so comfortable with it? How did she embrace it so easily? It terrified Damien. It could be something as simple as a faint movement in the darkness and it would still shake him to the core. How his sister never felt the same baffled him. Maybe she's seen worse things. What could be worse than seeing something lurking in the darkness, especially with its whispering sweet nothings of torment? Even it's touch was some kind of torment. Was… Was it possible that the entity was still in the manor? It's presence was certainly more sinister than what he was experiencing now. That brought up wildly different concerns. Ones he couldn’t even address.  
  
It only took a bit more digging before he found a bundle of papers with the familiar handwriting of his sister’s. Things she wrote down for him in case of these situations. He scattered them out on the nearest flat surface before looking over each one and finding the one he needed. As he read over it, he couldn’t help but to feel a slight twist of emotions. None of this felt right, but… it must have worked before, right? She wouldn’t steer him wrong when it came to this whole… occult thing. He hoped anyways. If all it took was to burn some plant to get rid of this unnerving feeling, who was he to argue with it? If only he had more confidence in the solution.  
  
He had an unnerving feeling that it wouldn’t be enough to alleviate whatever was really happening in Mark’s manor, or if the problems were even related at all. And God, he hoped it wasn’t too late.


	12. A Night To Never Forget

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. One more chapter before the end. Are you ready for it? Because I am definitely not ready at all. 
> 
> This chapter was pretty fun to write however! Hope y'all enjoy it ♡

October came unexpectedly fast. The night Mark had been anticipating for a while was already here. The days felt like a breeze. One moment it was a week until, and the next it was the day of. Arrangements and preparations were already in order. He assumed the guests would be arriving in the sunset hours, which left him more than enough time to carefully think about his plans. He hoped he’d pull them all off flawlessly, but ‘the show must go wrong’ was a showbiz saying for a reason. He figured he’ll deal with those issues as they come up. 

He didn’t expect  _ much _ to go wrong. Maybe a few small slips here or there, but nothing too major that would ruin his plan. It was all very simple in the end, or at the very least it’ll take William out of the picture. Damien wouldn’t be much of a concern; the only issue was trying to dispose of his spirit without ridding of his body. When it came down to Celine… well, that was for another time. William may be foolish enough to return on his own but Celine knew better. The only hope was for her to make one little mess up to give him the upper hand in this cat and mouse game. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

The staff all were so blissfully unaware of what was set to happen after nightfall. Something in Mark felt pity for them. He considered sparing them, as it wasn’t like they had much to do with this scandal anyways but… wouldn’t it seem suspicious if he dismissed his staff and the next night he ended up ‘dead’? Maybe too suspicious. Let’s just hope that they’d play their cards right in these next few hours.

The Actor probably should have been more concerned with preparing himself for the event, as opposed to everything else. Trust the staff, and trust the plan. It’ll go smoothly in some sort of degree. He spent one moment longer observing the preparations before turning away and retreating to his bedroom. Time to work on himself instead of every other seemingly vital detail. 

•••••••••

The sudden news of the Poker Night left the Mayor feeling unsure. Suppose it was good timing with his own personal plans but… it left a bitter taste in his mouth. Amy had received an invitation as well. He remembered her call about it. At least he wasn’t the only one that held concerns about it. He couldn’t help but to wonder who else was invited to it. Those concerns and wonders plagued him for the next night until it was only hours away. He shouldn’t feel so distressed about this. Mayhaps his previous plans of getting rid of whatever lurked in the manor was more anxiety-inducing than originally thought.    
  
He tried to put everything on the backburner of his mind. If he let himself get swept up in all of this then he’ll end up late. He tried to breathe and focus on getting ready to the best of his abilities. Maybe he was dressed a bit too formal, but at this point, it was already too late to back out. He fixed his hair for maybe a moment too long, gave Silver some love, and made his way out of his home. God could only know when he’d be returning. It left him feeling a little guilty when Silver gave protests to him moving away from him but he’d be damned if he was gonna be late.   
  
In attempts to avoid being late, Damien ended up showing up a bit early to the Manor. That wasn’t really any surprise to Benjamin, of course. The butler had expected him to arrive early, though he advised not to disturb Mark. The Actor didn’t want to be bothered, supposedly. That left a bittersweet taste in his mouth but Damien simply accepted it. The butler led him to the guest room where he could rest before the event (and especially afterwards). There were probably one too many ‘thank you’s given to Benjamin over the course of this interaction until it ended, and Damien was left alone to build worries for the night. Unexplainable worries. He just had a bad feeling, especially when he lost the feeling of solitary. He took in a deep breath and let his gaze sweep around the bedroom cautiously. It… would be smarter to use that sage now than any other time, right?   
  
Though even as if he wanted to do it, something in him just absolutely refused to go through with it. An endless battle between free will and restraint. It went on for too long and he felt himself cower out of his own plan. He couldn’t do it. With some sort of impending doom weighing him down, he ended up pushing himself to leave the room. He just… He couldn’t stay there. It felt suffocating. He made his way downstairs, the further away the better. At least that’s what his instincts yelled. Maybe sitting outside for awhile would give him time to calm down. He just had to keep reminding himself that it’ll be okay. He could always do it tonight. 

•••••••••

When Damien returned to the indoor environment, other guests were arriving. How long did he spend outside? Maybe too long. He couldn’t help but to feel guilty but he tried to make up for it by greeting them. He wasn’t exactly sure how he felt about this ‘Abe’ character. He seemed nice enough but something felt a little off to Damien when they talked. Have they met before? The other certainly acted like that was the case. It was odd, but Damien did his best not to worry about it. As he began to move away, he noticed Amy come in. It was almost funny how much relief fell over him when he saw her. At least there was someone here who could ease his stressed soul. Despite the weirdness that Mark invited her to this, he was glad. It’ll make this night easier to get through.   
  
They shared a few words and she didn’t seem to be concerned about the event. She even made a few jokes about how Mark probably wanted an excuse to brag about whatever his latest accomplishments were since it’s been a while. That alone only made Damien thankful that she was still around. He wouldn’t know what to do without her. After a few small jokes, they parted ways. Amy moved off to meet the other guests whilst Damien went to grab a drink.   
  
A familiar voice stopped him in his tracks. His throat fell dry as he glanced over toward the entryway.  _ William _ . He stared in shock at the sight of the Colonel, barely processing the sight of him. This couldn't be real. It felt like his heart stopped, especially when they made eye contact. Damien felt like he was glued in place. He felt… helpless. 

All of this was going exactly to plan. The Actor leaned over the railing as he watched William enter the manor. A small smile crept on his face as he watched before retreating back to his bedroom. So far, everything was running perfectly. Everyone was here.    
  
“Poor Damien probably had no idea that he was coming..” He mumbled that under his breath in honest amusement as he lightly shut his bedroom door before moving into the joint bathroom. “Certainly will make the night more interesting.”   
  
All that was left to do was prepare himself. Hide any signs of his deteriorating body. That’d be easier if the stab wounds under the robe didn’t fester and grow attached to the fabric; attempting to pull it off would prove painful and potentially a waste of time. It’ll be fine. He’ll just wear the robe. A little makeup here and there and he’ll be golden.    
  
Indeed,  _ this will be a night they won’t forget. _


	13. Is It?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for how long this update took. There was a lot to prepare for this chapter, and a lot of writing done to make it the best possible. I hope you enjoy it!!

The night was slowly ending. Most had retired to their guest rooms. Despite the events of the party, the Actor wasn’t blind to anything that happened; least of all the fact that William and Damien had snuck off at one point. He remembered rolling his eyes in honest disgust. Amy seemed to notice and glanced in the direction he was staring before looking back at him in confusion. He gave her a sweet faux smile before focusing on this pointless game he was trapped in. He had to be patient, and eventually it would pay off. And it certainly did when he held the Colonel’s gun loosely in his hands, as he was left alone while the guests and staff were off to bed. It was perfect when the Colonel came back down and their gazes met; then those words came from his lips with a knowing smile that faked a fond kindness despite the emptiness in his eyes. 

_ “Care for a little game of Russian Roulette, old friend?” _

It was all over when the gunshot rang, finally, out of three other empty clicks. He’s experienced worse pains; being shot felt like… nothing. The cards were all falling into place perfectly. Just remain patient. It wouldn’t be too long until justice came for the Colonel. Even in the hold of purgatory, the Actor still smiled. It wasn’t long until the morning hours started to seep into their reality. 

For Damien, everything ran by so quickly. His mind struggled with playing catch-up. An ache lingered throughout his body as his eyes opened for the first time, followed by a few slow blinks. It was hard to process that it was morning already, but he still found himself pulling himself up. The space beside him was empty. Cold. The covers however were folded forward as if they held someone the hours before. He looked away to his current surroundings. It was hard to miss his discarded pieces of clothing on the ground, as well as the Colonel’s jacket alone and abandoned on the chair along with his own. He must’ve left it..? His hands immediately rose up to rub over his eyes before he was pushing himself out of bed.

He could hear the creaking of the floorboards outside of his room. An unnerved feeling grew as he narrowed his eyes toward the door. It could’ve been just Benjamin. He could’ve been checking in on all the guests. That was sweet of him. Last night was still a bit foggy, but he didn’t have any doubts that it wouldn’t leave a heavy toll on some. He turned his gaze away and focused on buttoning his shirt up again. It wasn’t long until a sinister feeling started to creep up his back and forming a tight grip on his throat. Something… honestly didn’t feel right at all. Well, nothing ever felt right here — but why did this feel so much worse than normal? A sigh escaped him. He was being paranoid. More than usual. He’ll be okay, and that proved true when his gaze snapped to the side at the sound of the bedroom door opening then closing. 

It wasn't much of a surprise that it was the Colonel coming in. He was saying something, but Damien couldn't focus on his words. His mind still wrapped up in the fact he was actually seeing him again. It wasn't some fever dream, and as much as he should be upset about the lost time between them, he just couldn't be. Maybe that'll change later, but right now? All he needed was to drown in his presence, though maybe that alone was overwhelming. All it took was one touch on his cheek before he ended up breaking down right in front of William. Out of misery or joy? There was a fine line between the emotions and he walked along it. 

He heard his name being spoken but he just shook his head as his emotions crumbled into themselves. William pulled him close to his chest and simply provided the comfort he could. It was more than appreciated by Damien. It's all he has ever been longing for the last year or so… and with that thought he felt himself break down more; instinctively burying his face into the Colonel's chest due to it. His embrace grew a bit tighter, and Damien could recall himself sobbing out a 'I love you' more than once. He only stopped when he was pulled into an abrupt kiss. That alone was enough to make him shut up for a while. (Thank god.)

•••••••••

Amy had noticed the creaking of the floorboards outside of her room. The footsteps seemed too heavy to be considered as Benjamin moving around. Maybe it was Abe? Or the Colonel? It wasn’t really that big of a deal. She wasn’t sure why she was so concerned about it in the first place. She shook her head, as she brushed her hair out of her face before moving out of her room. It was odd how empty the Manor felt, despite it being so full of life in actuality. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed Damien’s door being shut. She stared for a moment. Was he the cause for the creaking? She rolled her eyes at that thought and dismissed it. Why did it matter in the first place? 

Her hands barely grazed the railings of the staircase as she moved down them. The atmosphere downstairs didn’t feel any different. Though it held more notes of something sinister creeping around the corners. Her gaze flicked up at the stairway before away again. She felt like she was being watched. She tried to shake off the feeling as she pushed herself forward to walk into the living room. Everything was fine. It had to be fine. She guessed this is what Damien meant when he said he had a bad feeling staying here. It'll be—

Amy froze in the middle of the doorway that led to the living room. Take it back, take it all back. The disturbed feeling was right. It _ wasn't _ going to be okay. Her eyes were practically fixated on the corpse— _ Mark's _ corpse lying in a puddle of blood. His… already oxidizing blood. How long has his corpse been sitting there? No, _ who did this _? It was hard to process if she was angry or miserable. The pain of loss was overbearing. Her thoughts raced as she approached the body carefully, heart aching. If only this was some kind of nightmare.

Heavy footsteps. Her gaze snapped toward the doorway. Not much shock when it turned out to be Abe coming through with a similar reaction to hers. He was quick to jump to accusations but she was quicker to defend herself. The loudness of the Detective easily lured the others to the room. The Butler came in, and then the Chef, both equally caught off guard by their employer’s death. Amy almost immediately ruled them out as suspects. There was no way they would… Well, maybe they would. They’ll be considerably low on the list of suspects for now, regardless. As for the others…

All of this was a complete mess. Everyone struggled to keep a calmer state of mind. It was difficult to push away grief and panic when it came to all of this. Amy could easily tell that Damien would not handle this well, which proved true when he finally came into the room. He couldn’t even process the information in front of him. She gave him a sympathetic look. He was in denial. Disbelief, and denial. The distress comes later. It was a vicious cycle. Though as of currently, he was stuck in denial. He hesitantly dismissed himself. He muttered something about talking to the Colonel as he moved through the doorway. She was tempted to stop him, but she stopped herself. She could always talk to him about all of this later.

Abe and Amy sent the others away soon after that, trying to piece together what could’ve happened. There was a gunshot wound that seemed relatively fresher than… all the other injuries. It was hard for her to look at all of this, and it wasn’t only because of the festering smell. Stab wounds - too many to count, bruises and all. Someone really wasn’t happy with him to do all of this damage. It was… inhumane. She managed to break away from it all however, convincing Abe to stay in to thoroughly look around the room whilst she went to question the guests. Maybe she could use this chance to talk to Damien, if she can even find him. She did hear talking from the theater, or well, it sounded more like arguing if she was honest. Going closer to the room made her realize... It _ was _Damien. He sounded surprisingly upset. She’s never really heard him this upset before. Suppose the cycle’s pace was different for everyone. She barely caught the end of the argument, however, before Damien was storming out of the room. They nearly collided into each other. He seemed caught off guard at the sight of her before releasing a huff followed by a half-assed ‘excuse me’. He pushed past her and she simply let him go. She should’ve stopped him. Too late for that, huh?

That happened with almost every chance she had with Damien. She would try to talk to him but it’d get interrupted by something. First Abe, then Colonel and Abe and then… _ Celine _. She just had to show up, didn’t she? Amy gritted her teeth every time the Seer spoke, and tried her hardest not to roll her eyes at her fake acts of caring about what was happening. If she took Damien's spine in the womb like everyone says, Damien obviously took her heart. There was no way in hell she actually cared about Mark’s death. And how the hell did she even know about what was happening? And… And why the hell did everyone immediately trust her? That frustrated her beyond belief. Even the Colonel fell weak to her charm; at least she wasn’t the only one who was particularly bothered by it. It felt like that bothered feeling remained with Amy as all of this unraveled, and thanks to Celine, now everyone was finding it a bit difficult to really trust each other. It wasn’t much of a surprise either when they seemed to turn against her with accusations either. The only one here who really knew her was Damien. So it made sense… at least he wouldn’t betray her. There was mentions of another on the property, and almost immediately this brought up some irritation to the group. Amy simply told Abe to go investigate along with the Chef and the Butler. They would know more about this supposed staff member anyways.

Amy assumed Damien would be glued to Celine’s side, and quite honestly she couldn’t be around her for a moment longer. Though, as she moved downstairs, she found Damien was following after her. Celine wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Hm. She glanced toward him momentarily before down. Maybe this was her chance. She could finally tell him what she’s been meaning to for awhile, and she was so close to finally admitting what she's been dying to say to him but… of course something came up. Damien had noticed something in the study so naturally they checked it out. Though what they found was completely baffling. Amy's previous thoughts dissipated as she looked over the desk before toward the wall with notes and pictures hung up and pieces of string connecting some to particular pictures; ones of Celine and the Colonel. Of course Celine was having an affair. This irritated Amy unbelievably, but she kept quiet about it as she shared a glance with Damien who seemed honestly… confused. Was he ever _ not _confused?

“What the hell is all of this?” The Colonel’s voice was startling at first. It came out of nowhere. At least Amy wasn’t alone in being scared by his sudden appearance. He picked up a particular paper off the desk of the study before glancing toward Damien then Amy. Almost searching for some kind of explanation from them. Though neither one of them really had any answers to provide. 

“Wil--” Damien started to speak up, already trying to defuse the ticking time bomb as he carefully took the paper from the Colonel, but he cut him off as his gaze flicked toward the wall. He moved towards it.

“He’s been keeping tabs on us?” He seemed to fall in disbelief as his gaze swept over the documents and pictures. “On me? _ And _Celine? 

There it was. That anger. Damien knew it too well. It always led to something reckless. He was quick to approach the Colonel and grab his arm but the male was already pulling away; he was shaking his head. He muttered something. Something about Mark with his left hand curling into a fist. There wasn’t a question about it. Damien followed after him. Amy stayed behind for the time being. She stayed to piece together what all of this meant. 

The Colonel’s anger started to flare up. If it wasn’t obvious by his body language, it was obvious in his voice. “Where the _ hell _ is he? What kind of _ sick _game does he think this is?!” Passing every room, he stopped to look into them. Searching for someone who wasn’t exactly around anymore with Damien trailing behind him. “Stop hiding, you coward!”

“William stop! Calm down!” Damien pleaded with him, but it seemed like every attempt he took a stab at, was ignored by the Colonel. Was his anger past the point of being suffocated out?

“How can you be so oblivious to this, Dames? He’s planned all of this since the beginning! God, he’s been fucking spying on all of us! For _ years _!” He slammed the door to an annoyingly empty room as he glanced toward the Mayor, shaking his head as he spoke up again. “Probably with that detective too!” 

“Can you hear how crazy you sound? Just stop, be reasonable, please!”

The Colonel rolled his eyes at his words and moved to push past him now. Targeting the room behind him as he spoke up again. “I’ll calm down when the bastard comes out and explains himself!”

Damien managed to stop William from moving past him, shaking his head. He pleaded again for him to stop but it was ineffective. Desperate times call for desperate measures, no? Damien grabbed the revolver that William carried, but they couldn’t even compromise on that. There was a clear struggle. Words of annoyance at this stunt. The last word spoken was a loud ‘Stop!’ from Damien before the gun abruptly went off. That stopped them both in their tracks. 

“_Damien- _”

The Mayor’s grip slipped off the gun as he stumbled back from him. Who… What did the bullet hit? His gaze trailed down William. He wasn’t harmed. So where did the bullet… His gaze fell down toward the blossoming red soaking through his shirt. His back hit the wall as his hands barely grazed over the gunshot. The Colonel almost immediately moved closer out of panic as he slid down the wall, his blood smearing down with him. Was this actually happening? The Colonel was rambling nonsense. It was hard to process when the ringing was still so loud in his ears. There was pressure against his torso though. That he could process. Why did this all feel so… familiar? It felt like something of this sort has happened. As if he’s experienced death’s cold grip before. 

‘I didn’t mean to’, ‘Just hang on’, ‘I can fix this, you’ll be okay’... Those were all lies weren’t they? He wasn’t going to be okay. This couldn’t be fixed. Hang on? Hang on to what? There was nothing to grip when being dragged further and further down in the icy hold of the end. These words, these thoughts, brought tears. Damien could feel them slip away. He barely shook his head as he managed to lift one of his hands up, resting it on William’s right cheek. Their gazes met.

_ “I-It’s… okay… I forgive you.” _

That was the last thing Damien remembered before the blurring worsened and the feeling of his body was gone completely. He was left with a numbness. He couldn’t feel anything. Not even his once beating heart. Darkness hugged him tightly. It was almost suffocating. It was a familiar feeling to drowning. The struggle and panic until the odd calmness kicks in. God knows how long it took before he could open his eyes again. A vast emptiness. There was nothing here. His gaze soon caught a figure shrouded in red however. It looked like…

“Mark?”

He felt himself lean forward toward the figure as the name slipped out. He reached his hand out to press against what felt like the ground. His eyes flicked down toward it. A weird blue was wrapped around him. What the hell was all of this? He tried to push past his confusion and managed to push himself onto his feet again. The figure in red continued to stand there, back facing away from him. Damien’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He pushed himself forward. His legs felt so shaky. He felt like he was being watched from every angle.

He came closer to the figure. The closer he got, the more he started to recognize particular features. It was Mark. He wasn’t sure if he should be relieved or not. His throat felt tighter as he forced himself to speak up again.

“Mark? Wh- What is going on? W-Where are we?”

He still received nothing in response. Now frustration was settling in. Mark finally moved. He turned his head to look back toward Damien and he… He smiled. It was sinister, and it twisted discomfort deep into Damien. He needed some kind of answer. Anything would be good enough. He was desperate. Lost. Bleak realization of this being real and not some dream was burning into him despite the aching cold. Mark had turned his head away. Still no response. Not even a pity response. He started to move forward toward the darkness. The red seemed to dim now. 

“Wait! Where are you going?!” The panic was evident in the Mayor’s voice once he noticed the movement. He lunged forward and attempted to grab onto the Actor’s wrist to stop him. To demand some kind of answer from him. He just needed something. His fingers barely grazed his wrist… Barely managing to wrap around before he was… gone. The red was gone. Practically consumed by the darkness. 

Damien hit the ground hard. He practically threw himself toward the Actor before he was gone. The thud echoed through the void and felt himself cringe at the sound. His eyes squeezed shut tightly before he was opening them again, and shakily pushing himself up off the ground. As his gaze rose up, he was met with the sight of an endless sea of eyes watching him. Distorting laughter echoing through the void additionally. A sense of panic and dread fell over him. They were everywhere. They surrounded him…. They did nothing but watch him. 

•••••••••

A few hard breaths, a few blinks to kill the blurring, and one shift to wake up the sleeping muscles and joints. He was awake again. It was successful. Damien’s body was now Mark’s. A moment passed as he adjusted to this new body. He cracked his neck and flexed his hands and fingers. It all went smoothly. A smile formed as the Actor slowly pushed up to his feet now. His gaze sweeping to the side as he heard shouting. Accusation after accusation. Plead after plead. They were all still mindless, playing their roles. Good. He wouldn’t want it any other way. He turned his head toward the opposing hall and moved that way instead. He had faith that the others would keep to the script. He didn’t expect anything less of them. 

It was certainly an odd change to finally have a body again, especially when it wasn’t exactly his own. It would take quite a bit of time to really adjust to all of the sensations. He assumed the ache would eventually subside. His hands trailed the railing of the staircase as he descended. There was a clicking not too far from him. Celine’s arrival was certainly a surprise, but nonetheless a welcomed one. It made things so much easier for him. He managed to track her down. It wasn’t too difficult. There were only a number of places that she could hide, and if she tried to run… Well, she wouldn’t really get too far this time. It was quite disappointing if he was honest. It would’ve proven so much more interesting if she had stayed away in the first place. Besides, who doesn’t love a good chase?

"I thought you were smarter than this, Celine. Evidently you're just as foolish as your brother.”

His words startled her. He noticed her freeze in place before finally turning around. He guessed she was expecting this. He debated reveling in the moment. It was tempting to indulge, but it did increase the risk of failure. Failure was certainly not a part of this script either. Nobody wants to watch the hero fail. Who would pay to see that? He felt amusement drain from him completely as his gaze trailed over her before approaching. How unfortunate that she was practically cornered in this room. The only exit being behind him. She spoke but he ignored her. He was tired of her lies. No more pity. No remorse. 

She backed away from him the more he approached. Oh, fear was a beautiful emotion. Seeing the panic and fear burn into someone’s eyes and expression turned twistedly delightful. This was a moment he would love to frame on his wall. Keep it forever. Love it forever. Hey, you know what’s more beautiful than that? Seeing someone’s life drain from their eyes. The fear, the desperation to fight, and then the slow fall into hopelessness. The realization that no one will save you… What a sight. It brought a smile to the Actor’s face. The warm pulsing feeling in his hand started to slow down. His gaze fell down to it; drenched in blood. All the way up to his elbow. He pivoted his focus to the heart in his grip. It was losing its warmth. Its strength to keep pulsing. 

“_Now we’re even, darling…” _He muttered those words quietly, his gaze trailing over to Celine’s fresh corpse. His head tilted to the side as he watched death take its course. Not even the gunshots going off in the distance distracted him. It was over. All of this was over, and the Actor struggled to piece together how he truly felt about it all. Satisfied? Fulfilled? Or did he fall flat on feeling empty?

Silence filled the Manor now.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Interlude](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22887070) by [siren_not_mermaid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/siren_not_mermaid/pseuds/siren_not_mermaid)


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